Airstrikes kill at least 9 in Gaza

Thursday

Feb 28, 2008 at 12:01 AMFeb 28, 2008 at 12:06 PM

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israeli aircraft blasted Hamas government offices and metal shops late yesterday, killing a baby and wounding more than 30 people in a retaliatory strike after a rocket fired by militants killed an Israeli college student.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israeli aircraft blasted Hamas government offices and metal shops late yesterday, killing a baby and wounding more than 30 people in a retaliatory strike after a rocket fired by militants killed an Israeli college student.

The bloodshed fed fears of an outbreak of heavy fighting between the Israeli army and militants in the Gaza Strip.

Amid the surge of violence, the U.S. government said that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit next week to meet with Palestinian and Israeli leaders about peace negotiations.

The Hamas rocket attacks against Israel "need to stop," Rice said early today in Japan, where she met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the deadly rocket attack on the college in Sderot, a town in southern Israel. That attack came a few hours after two Israeli airstrikes killed seven people in Gaza, including two senior commanders in the Hamas rocket operation.

After nightfall, a third Israeli strike aimed at a rocket squad in northern Gaza killed two youngsters leaving a mosque, Palestinians said. The Israeli military said it carried out the airstrike but had no knowledge of civilians being hit.

Israeli planes then attacked the office of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and the nearby Interior Ministry, both of which were empty. Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders have been in hiding, fearing assassination attempts.

Palestinian health officials said a 6-month-old was killed by shrapnel in the late-night airstrike in Gaza City and that about 30 residents of nearby buildings were wounded. A few minutes later, Israeli aircraft hit two metal workshops.

The Israeli military said the targets were command posts at the government building and sites where weapons are made and stored. The military blamed Hamas for setting up such operations in populated areas and said injuries to civilians were unintentional.

Militants fired at least 40 rockets at Israel yesterday, the military said.

One exploded in a parking lot at Sapir College. A student, a 47-year-old father of four, was killed by shrapnel, Israeli officials said. Israeli TV stations showed a man with wounds to his legs being carried on a stretcher.

The student was the first Israeli killed by a rocket since May, when two people died in separate attacks.

At nightfall, four rockets exploded in the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon, including one near its main hospital, police said. No one was hurt. Ashkelon is 6 miles north of the Gaza Strip.

The attack on Sderot intensified calls in Israel for a ground offensive in Gaza aimed at clearing the border area of rocket squads. Olmert has ruled out such an invasion for now.

In Sderot late yesterday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak vowed to "get those responsible" for the attack.

Early yesterday, an Israeli aircraft blew up a minivan carrying Hamas gunmen in Gaza, killing five militants, including two masterminds of rocket attacks on Israel, Hamas said.